'The deceleration in home prices continues'

A closely watched measure of Chicago-area single-family home prices showed its lowest annual gain in August since late 2012.

Prices in the Chicago area were up 2.9 percent in August compared with August 2013, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released today.

The increase was lower than annual gains of 4 percent in July, 6.6 percent in June and 8.5 percent in May.

Chicago prices haven't risen so slowly since a year-over-year gain of 2.2 percent in December 2012, according to S&P/Case-Shiller data. The 2.9 percent increase was third-smallest among the 20 cities in the index.

A 20-city index posted a 5.6 percent annual gain in August, down from 6.7 percent in July. S&P's national index posted a 5.1 percent annual gain in August, compared with 5.6 percent in July.

“The deceleration in home prices continues,” David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement.

"Despite the weaker year-over-year numbers, home prices are still showing an overall increase, as the national index increased for its eighth consecutive month," he said in the statement.

Chicago prices rose 0.4 percent in August compared with July; on a seasonally adjusted basis, local prices fell 1 percent, according to the data.